Day 16 of “Operation Iron Swords.” Accounts of the chesed being showered upon our valiant chayalim and the evacuees of the bombarded communities in the north and south of Israel are being broadcast and printed daily. Overwhelming quantities of provisions being collected and delivered to bases throughout the country by civilians abound. Projects such as those organized by Chabad and Bnei Akiva through which young people prepared thousands of pairs of camouflage tzitzit were held in numerous communities. Evacuees are being housed and hosted in luxurious hotels and are being treated as honored guests. Huge donations of new, age-appropriate toys for the evacuated children are being dropped at hotel lobbies to help ease their trauma. Non-kosher high-end restaurants in cities like Tel Aviv were voluntarily kashered overnight so that they could prepare almost 1,000 gourmet meals daily for soldiers. And the list goes on.
Alongside these major undertakings are hundreds of smaller acts of chesed being performed daily. We have been privileged to share in and witness some, which we proudly share with you.
During the first week, while we were in Talmon, funerals were held for the heroic fallen in their small communities. The number of attendees was limited for safety reasons. However, to pay tribute to their sacrifice, local residents lined the streets waving Israeli flags as the funeral corteges drove by. When lone soldiers were laid to rest, hundreds came out to honor their memories in the absence of family. Distant shiva calls to the homes of the deceased were made by total strangers to bring comfort to the bereaved families.
Late Thursday evening, there was a knock on the door of our cousins’ apartment in Yerushalayim. Two teenage boys held out a bouquet of flowers to our cousins, who are parents of three soldiers on active duty. The note attached read: “To the wives and mothers of the chayalim: Your hearts are pushed to the side, as you stand on the home front. Your precious sons and daughters whom you have sent us are guarding us with their courage. We join you in your prayers for their safe return together with the entire nation of Israel.”
In tracing the sponsoring organization we learned that this nonprofit organization was barely a week old and was registered only on October 13. Called “Achim LaOref”—Brothers on the Home Front, it was established by Professor Nechumi Yaffe, from the Department of Public Policy at Tel Aviv University, herself from the Charedi community. Her purpose was to engage the Charedi community in support of the chayalim from all walks of life, and to bring comfort to their families waiting for their safe return. Her volunteers are teenagers from Charedi, Dati Leumi and Chiloni backgrounds who go from door to door to distribute flowers for Shabbat.
The next day, we received a call from one of our host’s daughters-in-law, a mother of six young children, who shared that a delivery arrived at her door in Beit Horon, including a pre-Shabbat package of two home-baked challot and a brand new game for the children. Attached was a note indicating that the package was sent by a random family in Ramot who wished to express their thanks to the families of the chayalim on the front lines defending the nation.
Stories are being shared about soldiers who are offered opportunities to travel home for a few hours to be with their families deferring to the next soldier ahead of them. One of our chayalim was handed the keys to a car belonging to his buddy and told to “Take the car and go home.” Another one of our chayalim used his time home to bake 100 shnitzilim for his unit to supplement their Shabbat meals.
This past Erev Shabbat, in the lovely inner courtyard of Beit Avichai on Keren Kayemet Street in Yerushalayim, a special musical Kabbalat Shabbat was held for the evacuees temporarily residing in nearby hotels. Several hundred of all ages attended, with baby carriages in tow as well. The master of ceremonies was Chacham David Menachem, a well-known Sephardic rav and chazan. Seated at a circular table in the middle of the audience were six talented musicians on drums, electric guitar, ud, flute and cello. Their mellifluous musical renditions of verses from the tefilot brought tears to the eyes of an anxious community. Referring to Parshat Noach, Rav Menachem assured the audience that although we are presently surrounded by a mabul, we must not forget that the Ark had a tzohar, an opening through which light shone, assuring Noah of the “light at the end of the tunnel.” Similarly, with Hashem’s help, our tefilot and the courage of our brave chayalim, there will be light for us b’karov, soon.
Rabba Tamar, well known to many, addressed the gathering with words of chizuk as well. She shared that when the world is in tohu va’vohu, upheaval, in the midst of a flood, and we are desperately searching for dry land, we must all sit down together and create a united space as in the teivah. We must comfort our distraught bodies and souls, neshamot, so that we can envision the hoped-for dry land. She further urged the assembled to usher in a meaningful Shabbat with fervent prayers for the soldiers and the beloved hostages that they be returned to their homes safely and speedily. At the end of the rabba’s presentation, a woman in the audience stood up and added to the message, “I am from a kibbutz near Gaza. I am not a religiously observant woman, but I would like to urge all of us here to please light Shabbat candles and to add two more candles on behalf of those women who are so inhumanely being held hostage and will not be able to light their own candles this Shabbat.”
Led by Adi, a popular musical personality, the audience broke into joyous song and dance to the verses of “Te’he Ha’sha’a Hazot She’at Rachamim”—May this hour be one of comfort and compassion. May it be so!
